The Women in Media Relaunch Project, in partnership with Google News Initiative, is at the halfway mark already and the cohort of 17 women is thriving with the lessons and tips being shared by our expert speakers.
In line with the inaugural program run last year, the 2023 program has been focused on three main pillars to assist women returning to media work: professional development, personal development and networking. During the workshop development phase, Project Leads, Michelle Francis and Jacinta Rose, also took into consideration the interests and goals of the cohort.
“This year we noticed there were a number of recurring themes amongst the cohort, including an interest in leadership, digital media, and developing a stronger sense of confidence," said Michelle and Jacinta.
With that understanding, the first half of the program has seen a high level of speakers which has empowered the cohort to put themselves forward and aim for their dream job. Among the speakers:
· Lisa Muxworthy, Editor-in-Chief of news.com.au
· Professor Keitha Dunstan, Provost Bond University
· A panel of Edwina Bartholomew, Jacinta Tynan, and Laura Chalmers
· Karen Eck, Founder & Presenter of The Power of Visibility
· Uma Patel, News Lab Lead Australia & New Zealand, Google News Initiative
· Ricky Chanana, Chief Growth Officer, JustEggs
· Amanda Margariti, Senior Ad Tech Partner Lead, LinkedIn
· Catherine Fox, Journalist & Author
· Stephanie Tranquille, Speaker, Executive Speaker Coach, EQ Evangelist
· Dr Caroline Graham, Lecturer at the University of QLD
· Danielle Cronin, Commissioning Editor, ABC News Digital
· Terri Martin, GM (East Coast) at The Marketing Room
· Dr Paul Callaghan, Aboriginal Trainer and Consultant, author and motivational speaker
· Niamh Sullivan, CEO INFIX Creative Studio
· Naomi Moran, Koori Mail and Co-Chair First Nations Media Australia.
Many of the online workshops have focused on niche areas, while building upon each upon each other. For example, starting the day with a lesson on the importance of personal branding, followed by a session on how to use social media to promote yourself and your work, then a workshop on how to advocate for yourself or the audience you produce stories for. There have also been some important sessions on career planning, the benefits of life-long learning, getting in touch with emotional intelligence, and further development of journalism skills such as those needed in digital media, storytelling perspectives and how to seek promotions and/or new opportunities.
As is the nature of such programs, the Relaunch Project cohort have also started off the year by getting to know each other, chatting in group settings online, and sharing their wins and challenges as each workshop passes. To enhance the Relaunch Project experience this year, the cohort have been placed into a ‘Buddy Program’ that has allowed the partners to seek friendship and support from someone who is at a similar stage in life, or their career.
Finally, but not least, the mentoring component of the Relaunch Project has also commenced with great success, with anecdotal feedback coming from many women grateful for the expert advice and sounding board that the professional partnership has offered them.
We look forward to soon sharing many of the cohort’s personal success stories that we are already hearing and applauding!
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